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When most people hear the name Chris Jericho, they picture a wrestler. But that’s not how he views the situation.

“I’ve never seen myself as a wrestler, ever,” Jericho tells QMI Agency down the line from New York City. “I’m an entertainer. That’s what I do.”

You can hear a coffee machine growling on the other side of the line as the 44-year-old former WWE superstar, who was born in the U.S. but grew up in Winnipeg, talks about his early days in the wrestling business – when it was all about size.

“I knew I would never be the biggest guy in the show, but I could have the biggest character, and the biggest charisma, the biggest personality, so that’s kind of where it all started,” he says. “Like – this is acting, play this character, play this part. So, I’m an entertainer. That’s exactly what I think of myself. I’m a showman. I’m a modern-day vaudevillian performer, basically.”

And when you look at his resume, it’s true – he’s keeping busy doing many different things. Aside from fronting the metal band Fozzy, he also hosts the weekly podcast Talk is Jericho and still makes occasional appearances with the WWE. He’s also written three memoirs, appeared on Dancing with the Stars, hosted the show Robot Combat League and starred in the comedy web series But I’m Chris Jericho.

This month, Jericho’s web series will be airing on Shaw’s Action channel, making its broadcast debut after garnering hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. The series follows a former wrestler struggling to make it big as an actor – something that Jericho went through when he decided to leave wrestling to pursue his love of acting nearly a decade ago.

“I was trying out for anything and everything,” he says, recalling his frustrations with the auditioning process. “There’d be 10 other guys, who look just like me, and we’re in there to read one line: ‘Oh man, these pretzels are making me thirsty.’ And I remember thinking, ‘Okay, I understand that I’m not Tom Cruise here, but I’m Chris Jericho. Like, I have a worldwide fanbase… doesn’t the Chris Jericho aspect mean anything?’ And you find out pretty quickly that it doesn’t mean a damn thing when you go into Hollywood.”

He says he remembers missing out on a role for a car cleaner infomercial – “I didn’t even get that. I was like, ‘Man, I’m not getting anything. This sucks!’” – and then trying out for a part where he had to deliver a monologue about a serious disease, in which he promptly lost focus because of the loud pirate noises coming from an audition next door. That second experience actually inspired the web series.

“I remember when I walked out of that audition, where I basically got into an argument with the audition lady because all I could hear were these pirates screaming and yelling from next door,” he says. “I was like, this is so ridiculous. This would make a great show.”

Aside from the comedy series, fans will also be able to see Jericho’s acting chops in another small-screen project – Sharknado 3. Jericho plays a ride attendant at Universal Studios in the upcoming sequel, and says he’s pretty happy with the part.

When asked if he could emerge victorious from a one-on-one showdown with a shark – if he was wearing a special diving suit or something, and there were no other sharks around to tag-team him – Jericho ponders the question for a moment.

“They always say that you’re supposed to punch a shark in the snout, if you can do it,” he says, before going silent and contemplating the question again.

“But I mean, it’s a shark,” he continues. “I’d be scared to death, are you kidding me? Maybe if it was on the land, like if it was a Sharknado shark, you might have a chance. But if you’re in the water? Man, you’re screwed.

“But that’d be a pretty admirable way to go, though… it’d be like the worst 30 seconds, but it’s a pretty cool way to die. Yeah, you got eaten by a shark. That’s like a Viking way to die.”